Exotic animals, revamped nature school part of upgrades for Botanical Gardens

Exotic animals and the reintroduction of the Guyana Nature School are expected to be part of the added features to the Botanical Gardens which is being rehabilitated by the Protected Areas Commission (PAC).

The state of the gardens and zoo has deteriorated over the years and earlier this year the PAC announced major upgrades to make it visitor-friendly.

Jason Fraser, the PAC Commissioner, told the News Room recently that the Guyana Wildlife Commission is conducting an assessment to determine whether exotic animals from other parts of the world can be part of the new features.

“We are working with the Guyana Wildlife Commission and doing an assessment [because] we don’t want to bring in exotic animals that we can’t necessarily care for.

“For now, we are trying to rehabilitate the infrastructure. I’m depending on the Wildlife Commission and other stakeholders to kind of point us in the right direction, you don’t want to bring an animal into a completely strange and different habitat,” Fraser said.

The enclosures at the zoological park need to be upgraded and for many years the nature school has not been active. Fraser explained that the infrastructure work is paramount considering the rainy season that Guyana experiences.

When the project is completed in the months to come, walkways will be raised and guard rails will be added. It is expected that the first phase of the upgrades will be completed in six months’ time.

“It’s a lot of work but we have the support from the board and from the government to get that done.

“We are looking at some new features and new animals we’d like to introduce and of course, rehabilitating the nature school. The nature school has been down for a while,” he said.

He added that there is some consideration for rehabilitating the aquarium at the park to include more features.

“The question is, should we re-invest in the aquarium now or should we invest in things that are kind of more urgent? But it is in the plans and it’s just a matter of timing and funds being available,” the Commissioner assured.

The Botanical Gardens sits on 86 acres of land and has over 100 different species of birds and other wildlife. It was first opened to the public in the 18th century; florists from England assisted in its development.